Committee on House Administration Takes Up Military Voting Protection (MVP) Act, Introduced by Rep. McCarthy

WASHINGTON - Today, the Committee on House Administration, led by Chairman Robert Brady, D-Pa., and Ranking Republican Dan Lungren, R-Calif., favorably reported H.R. 2393, the Military Voting Protection (MVP) Act, to the House for consideration. The bill was reported as reintroduced in the 111th Congress by the Committee's Subcommittee on Elections Ranking Member Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. The markup of the MVP Act comes on the heels of a hearing held by the Subcommittee on Elections on May 21, 2009, concerning "Military and Overseas Voting." That hearing highlighted significant shortfalls in the conveyance of ballots from uniformed service members overseas.

"We are now one step closer to ensuring that the votes of our troops serving abroad will be counted," McCarthy said after the markup. "Chairman Brady was instrumental in seeing this bill move forward, and I hope that the House Democratic leadership will allow these common-sense military voting reforms to come before the whole House immediately."

"I am encouraged by the committee advancing this legislation which will ensure that our soldiers' ballots are properly collected, transported and tracked as they are delivered from around the world," added Committee member Gregg Harper, R-Miss. "Troops deployed to protect our freedom deserve to have their votes counted."

If adopted, the bipartisan legislation would require the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) to provide for the collection, expedited return transportation, and tracking of the absentee ballots of military voters serving overseas. The legislation would also require FVAP to report back to Congress on the effectiveness of its collection and delivery system within 180 days of each general election.

For more information, please contact the Committee press office at (202) 225-8281.